Three metro Detroit hospital systems would merge to create the largest combined system in the region under an agreement that could be finalized as early as this summer.

The proposed consolidation of Royal Oak-based Beaumont Health System, Dearborn-based Oakwood Healthcare and Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills would form a $3.8-billion nonprofit health care organization comprised of eight hospitals, 153 patient care sites and as many as 25,500 employees, although industry experts say some layoffs and reductions in patient beds are likely in such mergers.

The new organization, which has yet to be named, would be under the direction of a single board of directors and an executive structure with representation from the three legacy organizations.

Based on number of hospitals, employees and physicians, the new corporation would be bigger than the Henry Ford Health System, the St. John Providence Health System, or the Detroit Medical Center. By one estimate, the group could control roughly 30% of the hospital and health care market in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, according to consultant Allan Baumgarten, publisher of Michigan Health Market Review.

“It is a new corporation that we’re going to create,” said Beaumont CEO Gene Michalski, who would be the corporation’s first chief executive. “If you can imagine a parent and three children, of sorts, that’s the structure.”

The planned consolidation announced today would be just the latest in a series of hospital mergers in Michigan and nationwide as health care providers look to cut costs, increase their in-network referrals, offset smaller increases in Medicare reimbursement and gain leverage in negotiating payments from insurance companies.

“We are seeing and will continue to see mergers because hospitals are under ever-increasing cost squeezes,” said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan’s business and law schools. “For years smaller hospitals have struggled to find the cost savings they need in order to survive. Now big hospital systems are feeling pressure to get even bigger and wring out more costs.”

As a result of improved medical technology and factors such as higher insurance deductibles and co-pays, hospitals in general are having fewer patients spend the night, which generally means less revenue.

At the same time, hospitals are still having to compete on quality and patient experience, Baumgarten said.

In a conference call with reporters, top executives of Beaumont, Oakwood and Botsford said they have just begun negotiating the details of the arrangement and hope to finalize the deal within 90 days.

The merger is good news for patients, the executives said, because each hospital and clinic would gain access to more resources and physician knowledge.

The executives said it’s too early to know what cost cuts would occur, including potential layoffs or clinic closures. An initial estimate suggested that “significant cost savings” are possible in areas such as purchasing and information technology, said Oakwood CEO Brian Connolly.

So far there are no plans to close hospitals.

The deal, which is still subject to various state and federal approvals, has been under discussion since late last year. The boards of each organization signed letters of intent Thursday to begin pursuing the consolidation.

“The culture, the chemistry, the mission and the people of these three organizations are very compatible,” Connolly said. “We are essentially chomping at the bit to build a new future together.”

The hospital chiefs said they anticipate a better outcome than what happened last year with the attempted merger of Beaumont and Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. That $6.6-billion deal unraveled in May near the end of the “due diligence” process and amid reports of strong dissatisfaction among Beaumont physicians. Beaumont doctors are a loose-knit group who are mostly private practice and have privileges at Beaumont hospitals. Henry Ford’s doctors, in contrast, generally collect their paychecks from Henry Ford.

Michalski, the Beaumont CEO, said today that he believes Beaumont’s physician model is more compatible with Oakwood’s and Botsford’s.

What’s more, the Oakwood and Botsford geographic territories are more complementary with Beaumont’s than overlapping, as Henry Ford’s territory was, he said.

“We’ve known each other for very long periods of time,” Michalski said of the trio. “There’s a lot of mutual respect and we’ve worked together on other projects.”

Henry Ford Health System CEO Nancy Schlichting told the Free Press today that her $4.6-billion hospital system has been growing and doing fine on its own, and is considering “targeted expansion opportunities.”

With a $2.3-billion budget and three hospitals, Beaumont would be the biggest partner in the three-way affiliation. Oakwood has a $1.2-billion operating budget and four hospitals and Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills has a 330-bed hospital and a senior living community.

All three organizations said they intend to maintain their current medical school relationships. Each legacy hospital system would technically become a subsidiary of the new organization.

Botsford CEO Paul LaCasse said the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act has compelled hospitals to become more efficient, although the controversial health care law was “not the critical issue that brought us together.”

“When the three organizations came together and saw the synergies and the cultural fit...those were the driving factors that brought us together — not particularly the Affordable Care Act,” he said.